Cycles Of Life

On Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, one couple has cultivated a garden that taps into their cultural heritage and nourishes family and friends, body and soul.

- Elizabeth Wilson

Mary and Harry Loucas’s garden abounds with nourishing food and memories. In the vegetable patch are cheery edible flowers – zinnias, marigolds and scented geraniums – that remind Mary of her grandmother’s garden in Cyprus. In another corner stands a carob tree, a species synonymous with her grandma’s village, a gift from a late cousin. Nearby is a macadamia tree planted in memory of Harry’s much-missed uncle.

“My garden is full of beautiful memories and love,” says Mary. “So many trees and plants have been given to me and continue to remind me of special people in my life, past and present.”

As a child, Mary loved being at her grandmother’s side, harvesting food. Her yiayia’s vegetable patch was simple, containing flowers, herbs, rocket – “things that people considered weeds, but they all went into the spanikopita”. She also remembers digging up kolokasi (taro), a key ingredient in a famous Cypriot casserole that is still one of her favourite dishes. By the age of eight, when she came to Australia, Mary had an abiding belief in the interconnectedness of growing food and gathering family around the table to share it.